Boing! Boing!

Kari and I had so much fun with the babies this Christmas morning. We had a wonderful day with our families! It was awesome to share this time with the babies. We are blessed to have a Lord who loves us in such an indescribable way.

We'll have more pics of our Christmas posted soon, but we wanted to share this video of Nolan and Mila (mostly Nolan). We've had this little horse toy that hooks up to the TV with a video game for toddlers. We thought for sure the babies were too small for the toy. The horse can function without being hooked up to the TV so we put Nolan on it this morning and he went at it like he's been training for the Kentucky Derby for months! His little feet wouldn't touch the ground, but he some how found a way to "boing". Enjoy!

Zoo Lights

A couple of weeks ago we made a regular journey to Portland. Our normal trip consists of a stop at Trader Joes, a visit to Bridgeport/REI/or Washington Square, and occasionally a visit with the Greens. This trip had a special purpose - a visit to the Zoo to meet up with the Compton family for Zoo Lights.

We arrived at the Zoo early (around 4pm) to beat the crowd because we heard the crowd can get pretty busy. We pulled in and had plenty of parking choices. The lights started around 5pm so we walked around the Zoo for a bit. As 5 grew closer, the crowd grew larger. By the time we were off the train ride the Zoo was a zoo. We weren't too surprised by the flow of people considering it was a crisp clear December Saturday. When we left the parking lot was jam packed. Someone waited for our mediocre parking spot while we changed two dirty diapers and loaded up our overly packed stroller!

Nolan and Mila were both troopers and enjoyed the outing. We're definitely blessed to have such patient babies. Nolan was particularly interested in the lights and pretty much starred at them as we cruised around the Zoo. Mila on the other hand, interested in everything, looking from side to side the entire ride.

Below are some pics of our adventure.

Winter Runs

In an effort to keep up the use of our multifunctional Bob double jogger stroller we picked up a rain cover a few weeks ago. I (Conrad) was very excited to keep running with the twins throughout the rainy season. I know that if I wait to run with them again in the spring they'll be twice as big and I'll be sorry. Shortly after we purchased the cover it wasn't raining, but it was a clear chilly day, a perfect opportunity to use the cover to shield the brisk air. Below are some pics of the three of us gearing up for the run.

The babies love when we run...I've yet to hear a peep from either one of them.

Silly Faces...10 Months Old!!

Today Nolan and Mila are 10 months old. Both of them have been so much fun lately (despite the recent cold that has been passed around the Venti household). It is amazing to see the differences in each of them. I'm sure Kari will have a list of their characteristics soon.

For some while now Mila has been making the cutest smiley face with her nose all scrunched up. After watching his sister make this cute face, Nolan decided he'd start making a similar smile. So when they are excited and happy these are the faces we see multiple times a day!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was an extra joy this year with Mila and Nolan around. One of Kari's favorite childhood Thanksgiving traditions was watching the Macy's Parade with the family. Since we've been married we haven't made a special effort to turn on the parade. So with the babies around, she said, "we've got to start the tradition". Nolan and Mila do not watch much tv so they really enjoyed being just feet away from the screen and were, for the most part, interested in what was going on. Nolan was especially interested in the Rockettes :-).

After breakfast and the parade I took Wyatt for a walk in the neighborhood. Upon return, I was not so thankful to see that someone had broken into our car!

Kari's dad, Grandpa Jay, came over (her parents live around the corner) and helped me clean up the mess. Fortunately the thieves were not interested in baby gear and nothing was stolen. While we were cleaning up Jay said, "hey, do you have one of those corrugated plastic signs from church...", so below is a picture of our remedy. After all, we are supposed to "give praise in all circumstances", right?

We finshed cleaning up just in time for lunch around the corner. Kari's family all went to her parents' house for lunch. It is always a great time. The babies had fun with the family and I'm sure the family had fun with the babies.

Nolan in his cute Thanksgiving outfit

Nolan and cousin Carson
Aunt Nancy and Nolan lovin' her necklace
Uncle Jim and Mila Marci and the babies
Grandma Audrey and the twins

Just For Fun

Today I was playing with Mr. Lopez' Flip video camera. Audrey (grandma) also has one that she frequently uses to catch baby laughs. I couldn't resist catchin' the munchkins before bed. Here is a short clip of their lovely smiles...please note that they are not really doing anything particularly funny...in fact, Kari said it is the most boring minute of their lives...anyway, enjoy!

Kari is 25!

We actually celebrated on Kari's birthday, November 5th, but I have been procrastinating posting the pictures. We had a nice dinner and finished the evening with my first homemade cake. I think Kari enjoyed it!

This is an adorable picture of Kari and Mila at the Nordstrom baby fashion show. Mila has become a nearly automatic "smiler" when we point the camera. It is so much fun!

A walk in the park

The fall weather today was at its finest. Knowing that the rain will soon be here, the crisp blue sky is something we don't take for granted this time of year.

Kari loaded the stroller, babies, and all the baby gear downtown. She also brought me a change of clothes. Nolan and Mila were suited up in their walking clothes - warm coats, boots and pants. We started at Venti's and strolled through downtown up Cottage Street, through a few fun paths in the Pringle Park area and then made it to Bush park.

We made the loop and passed Leslie (my aunt) running with Drake (her Siberian running partner) twice. The colors this time of year are absolutely breath taking. After making the loop we took the stroll back downtown and ended with a delightful dinner at Venti's.

I will have to admit that this was probably the best fall days of my life. There have been a lot of good fall football days, but walking with the family on a beautiful day can't be beat!

First Apology

As I was sitting at my sewing machine I heard muffled Nolan screams. I walked a few steps over to their play area and found Mila on top of him and trying to crawl over him to get to a toy. I immediately hopped over the fence and pulled her off of him and sat them both on my lap. I put them facing each other and told Mila to say sorry (which she can't obviously do, but we are practicing). I kissed him to show her what to do. Neither party was interested. I tried to have them give each other hugs. Again, not interested. Then Nolan summed up his feelings by angerly doing one of his rumbly lip zerbert things (which are usually one of his happy sounds).

They are normally very loving towards each other. They can play together for about an hour if fed and happy. I often see them migrate to the same spots within their play area. After they have been apart for awhile they are so excited to see each other. They will wiggle and squirm to get to the other one and open their mouths and just kiss on each others faces. They even sometimes hug. When they are sleepy or are lying next to each other they often hold hands. They are so precious together. Nolan is especially loving towards Mila, although lately Mila has been giving some intense kisses and loves.

They are so precious and I love caring for them everyday.

Brown Rice Cereal!!!

Nolan and Mila experienced their first brown rice cereal meal a couple of weeks ago and we realized we didn't post the pictures. Nolan loved it pretty much from the first bite. He would get so into it that when you feed him a bite he slurps it in and ends up spattering it everywhere. Mila liked it too but was more interested in smiling for the pictures. We would feed her a bite and she knew what to do with it but then after a bit she would spit half of it out and let it run down her face. She would let us put the spoon in her mouth and would keep it in there and look at Conrad with the camera like she was making sure that he was capturing the moment. She is such a ham!

First meal ready to go.

Mila making sure we were capturing the moment.

Still watching the camera...

Loving it.

Thinking this is much easier.

Bush Park Pictures

Here are some fun pictures from a recent photo session with Uncle Jeff. He hasn't re-touched them yet, but we wanted to get them posted before they are out of date. After you check these pictures out be sure to look below at the other new post from tonight. We've gotten a little behind on our blogging and we're trying to catch up so check back soon for some exciting new "firsts".

Trying to kiss sister

Nolan's silly Zoolander pose

Nolan found his tongue for the first time during the session

Check out that drool...

Its our Blogiversary!

Its been about one year since we started this blog. Our first major post was when we took Conrad's sisters to the fair last year. I was a couple months pregnant with the babies and it was so fun to take Elizabeth and Sarina and imagine how it would be to take our kids. I remember blogging soon after and how sore I was after walking around all day and then sitting at the computer on a hard chair. It was probably one of my last major outings of my pregnancy and soon after this I was spending most of my time on the couch. This was because of wanting to avoid pre-term labor and later simply because I could not hardly move. Oh how pregnancy and having babies takes a toll on your body (I will save that happy subject for a later date when I can look back with some perspective.)Well, as you can see we did take Mila and Nolan to their first trip to the fair. We went with our friends Katie and Jose and their son Owen on Fri. night. The people watching at the fair is always amazing...that's all I am going to say about that. Soon after we met up the Lizama fam, Jose and Conrad went on the search for some fries and came back with a pile of fries called "Mt. Hood" with chili and fake cheese all over. They also tried the ice cream, a corndog, and helped Katie with her elephant ear. We looked at the exhibits, saw how many twins we could find (about 5), and just wandered. We also did some feedings on the fly and even changed all of their diapers while they were sitting in their strollers by the foot jiggily machines (because you know we would never put our babies on any of the available surfaces at the fair). We had a great time even during some screaming by Mila when it was getting close to bed time. I hunched over and held her hand as I walked next to the stroller until she fell asleep.
On Saturday we drove over to the beach and spent two nights with my parents in their camper. Conrad stayed the first night with us and met up with some guys for our friends Dru's bachelor party (the main purpose for our trip out there). We visited our friends Paul and Toni and their cute kiddos, went to the outlet mall, and found our favorite beach spot on 16th St. in Lincoln City. When Conrad was at the bachelor party my mom and I took the babies on a long walk to the fabric store and to check out the place we are using for the women's retreat we are planning. We also had a chance to drive down to the beach, put the babies in the carriers, walk around, load up, and head out when we were done.